Writing Short
Last week, one of my fellow Tri Ms (Modern Myth Makers, the writing group that formed following NaNo last year) challenged me to write a short story targeted at a very specific line. I knew this would be something totally new for me, but as I had just finished my latest WIP, decided it would be a fun change of pace.
I think that was Wednesday. At that point, I had no idea what I would write about in specifics, but I had lots of ideas that had been on the back burner. Some were obviously not a good fit for the paramaters of what I was trying to write, but over the last part of the week, I knocked enough ideas together to start a spark, worldbuild a little, and get some idea who my characters were. I did not write a full outline, but I did jot down some very basic notes of what had to happen in the story for it to be, well, a story. With that, Saturday I began writing.
The word count goal of this story is 10-15k words. Now, as far as short stories go, 10k isn't that short. But, for me, to tell what I feel is a complete story, that is pretty short.
This story is written from two POVs and judging by the notes I made before I started, I'm guessing I will need ten or elven scenes to create a full story. Knowing that from the get go, I planned for each scene to be around 1k, give or take a few hundred words.
I've yet to write a scene under 2k. *sigh*
I get the feeling this story will end up under a very fine knife later. The good news is, this should teach me a lot about tightening and refining down to the essential story. It might be a bit of a painful lesson, but maybe a quick challenge is the perfect place for it. My plan is to finish the story, completely, by April 5th. Wish me luck!
If you read short stories, can you recommend a couple of your favorites? If you write short stories, what tips can you share about writing short?
Happy Tuesday everyone!
I think that was Wednesday. At that point, I had no idea what I would write about in specifics, but I had lots of ideas that had been on the back burner. Some were obviously not a good fit for the paramaters of what I was trying to write, but over the last part of the week, I knocked enough ideas together to start a spark, worldbuild a little, and get some idea who my characters were. I did not write a full outline, but I did jot down some very basic notes of what had to happen in the story for it to be, well, a story. With that, Saturday I began writing.
The word count goal of this story is 10-15k words. Now, as far as short stories go, 10k isn't that short. But, for me, to tell what I feel is a complete story, that is pretty short.
This story is written from two POVs and judging by the notes I made before I started, I'm guessing I will need ten or elven scenes to create a full story. Knowing that from the get go, I planned for each scene to be around 1k, give or take a few hundred words.
I've yet to write a scene under 2k. *sigh*
I get the feeling this story will end up under a very fine knife later. The good news is, this should teach me a lot about tightening and refining down to the essential story. It might be a bit of a painful lesson, but maybe a quick challenge is the perfect place for it. My plan is to finish the story, completely, by April 5th. Wish me luck!
If you read short stories, can you recommend a couple of your favorites? If you write short stories, what tips can you share about writing short?
Happy Tuesday everyone!
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